the Much Debated Start of the HPV Vaccination Program in the Netherlands? A Discrete Choice Experiment

Objectives: To assess how girls ’ preferences have changed almost 3 years after the much debated start of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program. Methods: A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was conducted among girls aged 11–15 years who were invited, or were not yet invited, to get vaccinated. A panel latent class model was used to determine girls ’ preferences for vaccination based on five characteristics: degree of protection against cervical cancer; duration of protection; risk of mild side-effects; age of vaccination; and the number of required doses of the vaccine. Results: The response rate was 85 % (500/592). Most girls preferred vaccination at age 14 years (instead of at age 9 years) and a 2-dose scheme (instead of the current 3-dose scheme). Girls were willing to trade-off 7 % (CI: 3.2 % to 10.8%) of the degree of protection to have 10 % less risk of mild side-effects, and 4 % (CI: 1.2 % to 5.9%) to receive 2 doses instead of 3 doses. Latent class analyses showed that there was preference heterogeneity among girls, i.e., higher educated girls and HPV vaccinated girls had a higher probability to opt for HPV vaccination at a higher age than lower educated girls or non-vaccinated girls. Conclusions: Three years after the start of HPV vaccination program the risk of mild side-effects and age at vaccination seem to have become less important. For the Dutch national immunization program, we recommend not to lower th